Jackson Brockett has 'very few blemishes' on his outings, Will Bolt says

Nebraska baseball has been one of the better programs in college baseball this year, sporting an overall record of 32-18, and is currently in second place in the Big Ten at 14-7. A large part of their success on the field is directly correlated to their success on the mound, including from ace Jackson Brockett.

In Brockett’s last outing against Indiana, he helped lead Nebraska to a 4-2 victory. As the Cornhuskers prepare for their regular season series finale at Michigan State, skipper Will Bolt praised his left-handed pitcher for his recent performance and growth this season.

“He pitched well,” said Bolt. “There’s been very few blemishes to his outings. He left a couple of change ups last time out I mean the fastball actually has been really good. It’s been impressive – the V-lo (velocity) has been there he’s got insane extension on his fastball; let’s go of the ball a lot further than most guys his height. So that’s kind of played to his advantage. Now he’s kind of figured out how to pitch with better conviction.”

“So that 93 that he’s throwing looks a lot harder than that to the hitter; No. 1 because of the extension [and] No. 2 because of the conviction which he’s throwing it…  the calmness that we felt with Jackson on the mound going into a big game, against that lineup; we felt very, very confident that he was gonna go give us a good start after having already started a game earlier in the week.”

As a starter in 2024, Brockett is a perfect 2-0. He has three starts under his belt this year with an ERA of 2.82 over 22.1 innings pitched. The Cornhuskers sophomore pitcher has 20 strikeouts and has allowed seven earned runs while facing 90 batters this season. Brockett also has a complete game to his name this season. That came during Nebraska’s series against Kansas State, in which he led them to an 8-0 shutout victory over the Wildcats.

There are still many things on the table and up for grabs for Nebraska with their final season series against Michigan State. Should the Cornhuskers sweep the Spartans and Illinois lose their regular-season finale series against Purdue, Nebraska could finish the year as Big Ten regular-season champs and the number one seed in the conference championship tournament. That means Brockett could very well be a part of Bolt’s plans, at least out of the bullpen, for the Cornhuskers to be successful against the Spartans.